Tale As Old As Time
by chel91
Summary: Aria Montgomery was best friends with Alison DiLaurentis, but she also had a secret friendship with Ali's older brother, Jason. Ali is not happy when she finds out, which happens to be the same night she disappears. Both Jason and Aria leave Rosewood but reconnect when they return. Jason/Aria (Mention of Ezra/Aria)
1. NOTE

**AN:**

Hi!

I had this story posted on a different account that I can no longer access for some reason. I went on there the other day to post a chapter and my story was deleted. When I logged out I was not able to log back into that account. So, I decided to make a new one and post this story again for those who were reading it before. Although I may take out some things that were in the story before it should be the same and I will be heavily editing it. When I re-read it, I saw a lot of misspellings so those will be fixed. If anyone would like to beta this story that would be great. I can send you the chapters before I repost them or whatever. Anyway, that's what happened. I just wanted to let you know what was going on, so you didn't think someone stole my story. Also, I may be writing another story as well. I'm not sure yet.

Thanks!


	2. PROLOGUE

**PROLOGUE**

Aria walked into the DiLaruentis' house to look for Alison. She was supposed to meet Alison so they could walk over to Spencer's where they were having a sleepover in the barn behind the Hastings' house. Jason was having a party, so the house was loud and full of people when she walked in. Nobody noticed her, and she didn't mind that. She just wanted to go find Alison and leave.

When Aria got upstairs to Ali's room it was empty. She looked in Alison's closet to see if her friend was getting dressed, but she was not there. She looked in the bathrooms and all of the other bedrooms. They were all empty. Walking back downstairs Aria noticed Jason standing with a group of people. She recognized a few of them, Garrett Reynolds, Ian Thomas, and Eric Kahn. She was classmates with Eric's younger brother, Noel. She had a crush on him for a while, but that didn't last long. A few girls were hanging around them as well. One of them being Spencer's older sister, Melissa. Aria didn't recognize the others.

"Jason!" Aria called trying to get his attention over the loud music. It didn't work. She walked over to him and pushed her way through the crowd surrounding him. They were all much bigger and taller than she was, so it was wasn't easy to make her way through, "Jason," she tugged on his arm knowing that was the only way she was going to get his attention.

"Aria, hey," he said. He had an unopened beer in one hand, and she could tell he was had been smoking something, but he was coherent enough to keep a conversation, "What's up?" he asked setting his beer on the counter. She pulled on his arm moving him away from his friends, so he would be able to hear better.

"Have you seen Alison?" she asked him, "She asked me to come over, but she's not here," she told him.

"Nah," he said, "She left before everyone got here," Jason told her, "Why? Is something wrong?" he asked. Despite Alison's own beliefs, her brother did care about her.

"No," Aria said, "We were just going to hang out here until heading over to Spencer's in a little bit, but I can just go over there now," she told him.

"You can hang out here. Maybe Ali will show up," Jason said, "If not you can just head over there in a little while without her."

Aria thought for a moment before answering, "I guess," she said shrugging her shoulders.

The pair walked back over to where Jason had been standing before. Ian and Melissa were both gone. Nobody was surprised by that. Everyone there knew they were in a relationship. Aria, however, thought of a different reason why Ian may have left, and Melissa would be angry about. A reason that would explain why Alison wasn't home. She knew Ian and Alison were secretly seeing each other.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Eric asked. He was standing closest to the fridge where all of Jason's drinks were being kept. Everyone else had brought their own. Aria looked up at Jason as if asking permission. He only shrugged his shoulders.

Usually, Jason wouldn't even have let her near one of his parties, but he was a little more than slightly intoxicated at the moment and for some reason didn't mind her being there.

"Sure," Aria said. A beer was taken from the fridge and handed to her. She passed it to Jason and who shook his head.

"That's for you," he told her holding a joint in his hand.

"I can't open it," she told him. He chuckled and put the joint between his lips, so he could open the bottle of beer for her. He handed the bottle back to her and let out a puff of smoke right into her face making her cough. She had never smoked anything before, and it burned her lungs.

"I'm sorry," he couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her into a side hug, "It was an accident." He watched as Aria took a sip of beer and made a disgusted face, "That good, huh?" he asked passing the joint to Eric who was on the other side of Aria.

"It's gross," she said, "How do you drink that?" she asked but continued to drink it anyway. Jason kept his arm around her protectively noticing Garrett and Eric's eyes roaming her petit form. Garrett went to hand the joint to Aria, but Jason intercepted it.

"Nope," he said knowing that it had something other than weed in it. It was laced with something; cocaine, ecstasy, he wasn't sure, but he didn't want Aria to have it. He wasn't even sure why he was doing it, but at this point he didn't care anymore.

Aria didn't think she would have done it, but she wondered why Jason wouldn't let her. It's not like she was his responsibility. And it wasn't like she didn't feel high in here anyway with all of the smoke around her.

After drinking half a bottle of beer, she was done. It was gross, and she already had a headache from all the noise around her.

"Jase, can we go outside?" she asked laying her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said, "Let's go out back," he told her, and they walked out the back door, "Are you doing okay?" he asked as they sat down on the back steps.

"I'm good," Aria said, "I probably smell bad and the girls are gonna wonder when I started smoking pot," she laughed.

"You don't smell too bad," Jason said smelling her shirt and then her hair, "All you have to say is you were looking for Ali and I had people over. They'll believe you," he shrugged.

"I guess," Aria said, "I really did have fun tonight, Jason," she told him, "Even if I pretty much hate your friends," she said. He laughed.

"Yeah, they're not great people," he said.

"Maybe make some changes then," she told him.

"You are a good person, Aria Montgomery," Jason said, "And you have cool hair. I never thought I would like pink before," they both laughed at the last part.

"You aren't so bad yourself," she told him.

"Eh," he responded, "I could definitely be better," he said.

"So, be better," she said, "But I've gotta go. I'll see you later. Thanks for letting me hang out with you," she said before walking around the side of the house to go to across the road to the Hastings'.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Aria woke up on the floor of the Hastings' barn. Both Emily and Hanna were still asleep, but Alison and Spencer were gone. Aria looked at her phone and saw that it was nearly three o'clock in the morning. She woke Emily up, which in turn woke Hanna up.

"Ali and Spencer are gone," Aria said.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Hanna asked.

"They aren't here," Aria said standing up and walking to the door of the barn. She was going to go look for the two girls. Before she even stepped foot out of the barn, she saw someone walking toward her.

"Ali!" she called out.

"She's gone," Spencer said when she got closer to the barn.

"What do you mean she's 'gone'?" Aria asked repeating what Hanna had asked earlier.

"I've looked everywhere for her," Spencer said, "I think I heard her scream."

* * *

**PROLOGUE RE-POST**


	3. HOME

**CHAPTER ONE**

**(two years later)**

Aria's father picked her up from the airport early in the morning. Way too early for Aria's taste. Byron, a college professor, was used to waking up early. It had been a year since Aria had seen her father, so even if she was still angry with him for cheating on her mother she was still happy to see him. Byron hugged his daughter and took her luggage from her.

"How was Germany?" Byron asked as they walked to his car.

The Montgomery family had left Rosewood not long after Alison went missing. It was Ella's idea. Byron was on sabbatical and Aria needed to get away, so they decided to go to Iceland for a year. Just two days before the family was set to go back to Pennsylvania Aria heard from one of her friends that they had found Alison's body. Or the remains of it. That information set Aria back a little bit.

She had gone from locking herself in her bedroom all day to finding a few friends in just a few months. The rest of her time in Iceland was spent being happy and having fun with her friends. She even got closer with her younger brother and she was forced to spend more time with her parents. After finding out about the discover of Alison's remains Aria retreated back into her shell.

Her parents had to go back home because they both had jobs and her brother didn't want to stay in Iceland, but apparently, she had family in Germany on her mother's side. They had two kids, twins, her age and were willing to take Aria in for as long as she wanted. Thankfully, they spoke English very well. So, instead of taking their scheduled flight home, they took Aria to her temporary home and flew back to Rosewood from there.

"I loved it!" Aria exclaimed, "It's so pretty there. Historical pretty, not gorgeous pretty. But there are those places," she said, "But it is an amazing place. I would love to go back with all of you. Oscar and Petra were very welcoming. And Ansel and Anja were helped a lot. Especially teaching me German. I am trilingual now, Dad," Aria said, "I can speak English, Spanish, and German. Just don't ask me to keep a full conversation because I'm not extremely fluent."

"That's great, Aria," Byron said, "And I'm sure your mother would love to spend some time with her cousin. I think that was only the third time they've met," he told her, "The question is, did you keep up with your schoolwork?" he asked, "I know your mother was keeping up with it for a while, but keeping up with hundreds of kids' schoolwork is a lot. And Petra said she would keep on top of it."

"Yes, Dad, I've been doing well in school," Aria said, "I will be starting my senior year with the rest of my class this year," she told him.

"Ezra Fitz is teaching at Hollis College," Byron said, "Do you remember Ezra Fitz?" Byron asked, "We met him in Reykjavik. He was there for about two or three months," he said.

Aria did remember Ezra Fitz. He works with Byron at a school that Aria and Mike were attending, but he was also secretly dating Aria. It started a week before her parents even met him. Maybe her father already met him since they worked together, but her mother had never met the guy.

"He was working at the high school, but just recently started working at the college," Byron informed her.

"Oh," was all Aria had to say. Byron didn't seem to notice anything, so Aria let it go, not saying anything else.

"Your mom will be so happy to see you," he told her, "Why don't I drop you off at the school and she can drive you home. School should be letting out in just a few minutes," Byron said.

Aria looked at what she was wearing. A pair of black, cutout, leggings and a black tank top with a grey Yale hoodie. She had on a pair of black sneakers. The most comfortable thing she could find for a long flight. Extremely long. But was it appropriate for going to school. Not really. But at the same time nobody would be there but Aria and her mom for the most part.

"Okay," Aria said, "I'll try to convince her to bring home something for dinner.

"Sounds good to me," Byron said.

* * *

Byron dropped Aria off at Rosewood High 20 minutes later. They watched the students pour out of the school and when Aria was convinced that most of them were gone, she said goodbye to her father and walked into the school. He told her where to go before she left, and she had been trying to find the room for a good five minutes before someone walked out of the principal's office.

"Excuse me," she stopped the woman before she walked outside, "Do you know where Ella Montgomery's classroom is?" she asked.

"Take this hallway to the end. Turn left. It will be the third door on the right," the woman told her.

"Thank you," Aria said and took off down the hall following the woman's directions. It didn't take her long to make it to her mother's classroom, but when she got there she could make out two distinct voices. One male and one female, her mother's.

Walking inside she wanted to see if her mother would notice her before she said anything. She could only see the profile of the male in the room and couldn't tell his age or what he looked like. He was dressed in a light, button down shirt, and blue jeans. His hair fell into his eyes, but wasn't too long. He was leaning against a desk in the front of the class while Ella leaned against her desk.

"Aria!" she greeted excitedly, "What are you doing here? I thought you would be at home being lazy all day," Ella said rushing to Aria and pulling her into a hug.

"I wanted to, but Dad thought it would be a good idea to come see you, so I did," Aria said.

"I'm glad you did," Ella said linking arms with Aria and walking back to her desk, "Look who I ran into," she said letting go of Aria's arm and walking behind her desk to sit down.

"Hey," Jason greeted and with that one word every emotion, every feeling she had toward Jason since meeting him years ago came rushing back to her.

"Hey back," she said.

"I just dropped by to see Mr. Ellis," Jason told her. Aria hadn't been to Rosewood since her freshman year, but she remembered a lot of the older staff and teachers.

"Oh, the guidance counselor?" Aria asked. Mr. Ellis had been working at Rosewood since…probably since before Aria was born.

"Jason offered to talk to some of out at-risk students," Ella said.

"Stoners in training. Like I was," Jason said. But Aria knew Jason was more than just a stoner. He was a full-blown drug addict. He had done multiple drugs on many occasions. And he was a borderline alcoholic. But he seemed a lot better now. He looked a lot better, "I'm going to tell them that there is life after high school," Jason told her.

"That's good," Aria said. The two looked at each other for what seemed like forever before Jason spoke again.

"Well, I'd better get going," Jason said standing up and walking toward the desk at the front of the room, "And thanks again for the note you sent my mom. It really meant a lot to her," Jason told Ella.

"Really? I'm glad," Ella replied.

"So, can I bring anything tomorrow?" Jason asked. Aria was confused. What was tomorrow?

"No, please. Just yourself," Ella told him.

"Tomorrow?" Aria asked what she was thinking.

"Yeah, I invited Jason to dinner," Ella said.

"Well, am I invited, because I have no idea what you're talking about?" Aria said.

"Yes, you live with us, you are automatically invited. And your father would most likely lose his mind if you and your brother weren't there," Ella said, "It's the dinner party your father sporadically has and invites friends and colleagues and says that we have it once a year when that is not true at all," Ella said.

"Oh. Okay," Aria said.

"See you tomorrow night," Jason said to Aria before walking out of the room.

"Why did you invite him to dinner?" Aria asked when Jason left.

"Why? Is there a problem?" Ella asked.

"No, just a little surprised, I guess," Aria said, "I guess because nobody was very happy when I even spoke to him and now he's allowed in our house," she shrugged, "That's all."

"Well, that was when he was on drugs, Aria," Ella said, "He's clean now and I've come to learn that he is not what people say he is and they all just need to leave him alone," Ella told her. Aria completely agreed but was still surprised.

"Why did you send Mrs. DiLaurentis a note?" Aria asked.

"Something happened at the fashion show and I felt I needed to say something to her," Ella said.

"Did you invite Jason because you felt bad about what happened?" Aria asked. Emily, Hanna, and Spencer let Aria know what happened at the fashion show and Aria was just happy she wasn't there for it. She felt terrible for what happened to her friends, but she was relieved she wasn't there for any of it.

"That may have been partly the reason, but his family has been through a lot and I thought he could use some human companionship," Ella said, "Don't you?"

"Yeah," Aria said.

"And Ezra Fitz is coming to dinner as well," Ella told Aria, "I don't know if you remember him," she said.

"Dad and I were just talking about him in the car and how he used to work her and now works at Hollis," Aria said, "So, I understand why he would be invited to a colleague dinner. He didn't mention the dinner, though."

"Well, your father doesn't think sometimes," Ella said, "Do you want to stop and pick up something for dinner?" she asked.

"I was going to ask if we could get Chinese food, but you offered so I don't even have to ask anymore," Aria chuckled, "I would love some Chinese food. Also, where is Mike?"

"Oh, that's a whole other thing we can talk about later. I want to hear all about Germany," Ella said as the two walked to the staff parking lot where Ella's car was parked.

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: HOME Re-posted **


	4. JASON

**CHAPTER TWO**

Later that night Byron and Ella went out for dinner with a couple friends of theirs. Aria stayed home and made dinner for her and Mike, but the latter of the two was nowhere to be found. Aria hadn't seen her brother since he got home from school and then left an hour later. Ella had told Aria about what was going on with Mike and his acting out lately, but there wasn't much to go on. Neither of their parents knew what exactly was going on or causing it. Aria figured it was a phase. A 14-year-old boy thing that he would get over and laugh about later in life.

It was around 7:00pm and Aria was making homemade pizza when the doorbell rang. She dried her hands on a towel and walked over to answer the door. When she opened the door, she saw Jason DiLaurentis for the second time that day.

"Hey," she greeted with a small smile on her face.

"Hey back," Jason said. By the tone of his voice she knew something was wrong.

"What?" she asked, "Is everything okay?"

Before Jason could answer, Mike stepped out from behind him looking extremely guilty.

"Mike, what's going on?" she asked, but he just walked past her into the house, "Hey! Mike!" she called after him, but he ignored her, "What's going on?" she asked Jason and he told her what happened.

"He broke into your house?" she asked.

"He never got in, actually. Caught him at the window," Jason said, "The house was dark. I'm guessing he thought no one was home."

"I'm really sorry. He's-He's never done anything like this before," Aria said, "Thank you, for not calling the police," Aria said.

"Don't worry about," Jason told her.

"I really don't know what to tell you," she said, "If I tell my parents they are going to flip out," Aria told Jason, "But if I don't then he's—" she was conflicted on what to do. She didn't want her parents to freak out and get mad at Mike, but Mike had tried to break into Jason's house. She shouldn't just ignore that.

"Aria, don't," Jason interrupted, "He knows he's been busted."

"Um…why didn't you call the police?" Aria asked.

"I've seen enough cops at my house for one year," Jason told her. Aria didn't really know how long Jason had been back in Rosewood, but she could only imagine how many had been bothering him since he had been back.

"Well, uh, my parents left me alone for dinner and Mike probably won't be joining me, so would you like to come in and eat something?" Aria asked, "I made pizza. I just have to put it in the oven. It shouldn't take long to cook," she told him.

"I guess I could use something to eat," Jason said. Aria moved over so he could walk by her.

"Just let me put this in the oven really quick," Aria said, "Do you want something to drink? Water or soda or whatever this weird juice is?" Aria asked, "I seriously have no idea what this is," Aria said. Jason appeared beside her and she showed him what she was referring to.

"I have no idea what that is either," Jason laughed, "I'll just have some water," he told her. She handed him a bottle of water and she took her own.

"Do you want to sit in here or wait in the living room?" Aria asked Jason.

"We can stay in here," he said. They walked to the other side of the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat in the chairs. Aria's feet dangled a good two feet off the kitchen floor.

"So, how have you been?" Aria asked looking at Jason, "Minus everything that's going on right now," she said.

"Pretty good," he told her, "I took my senior year off college and went to rehab. I got sober and went back last year to finish my last few credits," he said, "Nice shirt by the way. I knew you stole it."

"I did not, you gave it to me," Aria said, "But that's awesome, Jason. You look good. The last time I saw you was in your kitchen. I was waiting for Alison and your friends were trying to get me drunk. Okay maybe not that, but they were giving me drinks when they knew I was way too young," she said, "Then you and I sat outside for a little while until I went over to Spencer's."

_**FLASHBACK**_

_When Aria walked around the side of the DiLaurentis' house to go to the Hastings' she ran into the person she had been looking for. Alison was leaning against the side of the house as if waiting for Aria to show up. _

"_Ali, I've been looking for you," Aria told the blonde who looked beyond pissed off._

"_When?" Alison asked. _

"_I came over here, so we could go to Spencer's together," Aria reminded her. _

"_Must've forgotten," Ali said looking at her well-manicured fingernails. _

"_Well, do you—"_

"_Are you fucking my brother?" Alison asked her blue eyes boring straight into Aria. Aria glared straight back at her. _

"_No," Aria said, "What would even make you think that?" _

"_You've been acting kind of strange lately," Alison said, "That and the fact that you were hanging all over him. You were basically sitting on his lap back there," Alison gestured to where she had been sitting with Jason. Where he was still sitting, "You know that would be illegal, right? I'm just trying to help," Alison said. Aria rolled her eyes and walked around Alison._

"_I'm not trying to fuck Jason, Ali," Aria said, "We're friends. And maybe you should take some of your own advice. I've seen you with Jason's friends," Aria told her, "You talk to me like I'm some sort of slut for hanging out with Jason, but what are you doing with Ian?" Aria walked off without even waiting for a response._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"Alison got so mad at me because she thought you and I were sleeping together," Aria told Jason, "I told her we weren't, but I don't think she believed me. Not that I'll ever know. Or care really."

"I was 21 and you were 15," Jason said, "That would have been fucked up."

"But it happens all the time," Aria said. She didn't want to mention Ali and Ian. Ian who was older than Jason. Or Ian and Spencer. Luckily, the timer on the oven went off.

"I'll get it," Jason said, "Wouldn't want you to break your little pixie legs getting off that chair," he joked.

"Shut up," she couldn't help but laugh. She was tiny, and she owned it. Aria heard her phone go off in the other room, "I'll be back in a sec. Do you want to attempt to get Mike to come eat or just leave it alone?" Aria asked, "I know he won't listen to me right now."

"Just go get your phone," Jason said. Aria walked to the living room where her purse was on the couch. She saw she had a text from an unknown number.

**UNKNOWN: **_It would still be illegal, you know. -A_

Aria put her phone back in her purse before joining Jason back in the kitchen.

"He's not hungry," Jason said, "Which is a damn lie because he's 14 years old and all teenage boys do is eat. But just leave him alone. He'll be fine."

"Except for the breaking and entering thing," Aria said as she started to aggressively cut the pizza into slices.

* * *

Aria met up with Hanna, Spencer, and Emily outside of the principal's office the next morning after getting her class schedule. She had classes with each of them and only one where none of them were with her. Her first class was History and she shared that class with Emily. Hanna and Spencer were on opposite ends of the school.

"So, how was Germany?" Emily asked, "Any cute boys to go back to?"

"A lot of cute boys. None to go back to," Aria said.

"Any cute girls?" Emily asked obviously for herself. Aria laughed.

"There are cute girls in Germany. Blonde haired blue-eyed girls," Aria told her, "And tall."

"Only because you're short," Emily said.

"Probably," Aria said, "But there were some girls there taller than you and my cousin Anja who is 5'9". But my cousin Ansel, all the girls love him. He's like 6'5" with blue eyes and dark blonde hair," Aria said, "Anja's friends wanted to come over all the time just to see Ansel. But he was in his room all the time. He was the one who taught me to speak German for the most part. So, I gave him an excuse to be unavailable to talk to Anja's friends when they were over. So he owes me."

"Yeah, to be stampeded by beautiful girls is awful," Emily said, "Anyway, are you ready for that dinner tonight?" she asked.

"I guess so. It's just a dinner with my parents' friends and co-workers…and Jason." Aria said.

"Jason?" Emily asked, "As in DiLaurentis?"

"The same one," Aria replied, "Is something wrong with that?" she asked, "He's not going to kill me, Em. We're having dinner at my house. The two of us had dinner at my house last night and I'm still alive right now," Aria said, "I did get a strange text though. I swear only Ali could have sent it though."

"Aria, we are going to have to get together after your dinner tonight. I'll let Hanna and Spencer know," Emily said, "We didn't tell you a lot of stuff while you were away because we didn't want to get you involved, but you are now, so we have some explaining to do."

"I don't know if I'll be able to, but let me know when and where," Aria said.

Aria couldn't stop thinking about what Emily had said earlier that day as she was helping her mom get ready for dinner. They had cooked dinner, set the table and were now only waiting on their guests.

"Mom, Dad, can I spend the night at Spencer's with the other girls tonight?" Aria asked, "I haven't seen them at all until today and we just want to catch up."

"I suppose since you don't have school tomorrow you can go stay the night," Ella said, and Byron agreed.

"Just as long as it's okay with Veronica and Peter," Byron said.

"Spencer said they were going out for the night, but Melissa would be home, and Melissa is fine with it as long as we don't get too crazy."

"That's fine then," Ella said.

Then the doorbell rang.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO: JASON-Re-posted**


	5. DINNER

**CHAPTER THREE**

Aria stood in the living room with her father along with Elliot and Nancy Partha. Elliot was the lacrosse coach at Hollis and was very anxious about leaving their newborn child at home with a babysitter. He had been on the phone with the babysitter almost since they had arrived while Nancy seemed happy to get away for a little while. Neither Ezra nor Jason had arrived yet and Mike was not home, which Byron was not happy about.

"Thanks, Byron," Nancy said as Aria's father handed her a glass of wine.

"I thought you were kidding," Byron said referring to Elliot on the phone asking about the baby's wellbeing.

"No kidding," Nancy said, "I may have carried the baby for nine months, but Elliot's planning to carry him straight through college."

"If you ever need a sitter, you should call me," Aria said leaning against the wall, "I'd love to do it."

"That'd be great!" Nancy exclaimed, "Just stop by the house with a blood sample. The background check won't take more than an hour," Nancy said with a laugh, "Hey, where's Mike?" she turned to Byron.

"Well, he promised he'd be here, so…" Byron trailed off.

"Uh, yeah, he's on his own clock. You'll find out about that soon enough," Ella told Nancy. The doorbell rang, and Ella went to answer it. Aria walked behind her and saw that it was Ezra. She didn't know what she was going to feel when she saw him, but it was not as intense as when she saw Jason again for the first time, she knew that.

"Aria," he greeted.

"Hi, Ezra," she said. Before she could say anything else her father interrupted.

"Hey, Ezra," he shook the younger man's hand. Ezra gave Byron a bottle of scotch.

"A gift for the host," Ezra said.

"This is some serious scotch," Byron said examining the bottle. Aria knew nothing about scotch, or alcohol in general, really so she didn't know if it was good or not.

"Well, it always works for me," Ezra told him. Ella called Byron to the kitchen for help, so Aria led Ezra to the living room where the Parthas were.

"Didn't you once say that scotch tasted like diet coke and iodine?" Aria asked remembering a get together they had in Iceland. Ezra and her father had drunk some scotch and later he had told her it was disgusting using that description.

"Yes, but your father likes it, so that's what I got," Ezra told her.

Aria introduced Ezra to Nancy, but he already knew Elliot, so there was no introduction needed. The doorbell rang again. She knew who it was. Everybody was here except for one person. Both of her parents were busy, so she answered the door.

On the other side of the door was Jason.

"Hey, come in," Aria said letting Jason into the house.

"Sorry I'm late," Jason said looking down at Aria.

"Uh, no, it's fine," she told him. He handed her the bouquet of flowers he had been holding, "Thanks," she said and led him over to the living room. She introduced him to everyone before walking to the kitchen to put the flowers in water and to let her parents know that everyone was here.

"Okay, dinner is still cooking, so you two go keep everyone company until it's ready," Ella shooed Byron and Aria out of the kitchen.

The two left and went back to the living room. Nancy and Ezra were on the couch. Aria sat down between them. Jason was leaning against the wall across from them and Elliot was sitting in the chair. Byron was playing host and passing out food and drinks.

Ezra was talking about his biking trip through Ireland. Aria already knew the story. The two of them had talked about it before when they were alone. She tuned them out until she heard Jason's voice.

"Uh, some, yeah," Jason said, "When I first took off from college, I did the Kona Coast."

"That's where they have the Triathlon, right?" Byron asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to clear my head before I came back here," Jason said, "Riding those lava fields is like being on the moon, you know?"

"That's intense," Ezra said.

"Yeah, it's what I needed," Jason responded. The doorbell rang, and everybody looked over. Aria walked to the door and answered it. When she opened the door, she saw the red and blue lights of a cop car.

"Aria," the cop she knew as Barry greeted her.

"Hi," she replied.

"Are your parents home?" he asked.

"Mom? Dad?" She called out. Byron and Ella walked over to the door where Aria was standing.

"Hi, Barry," Ella greeted.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, "But it's about Mike. He's okay, but we have a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Byron asked.

"Looks like he broke into a house," Barry said. Aria stopped listening after that. She turned around and looked at Jason for a few seconds before looking away. She just stared off with a blank look on her face until she heard her mother's voice.

"Aria, Aria, please stay here," Ella said. Aria nodded. Jason watched as Aria's eyes locked onto a spot on the floor. He wanted her to look at him, but she wouldn't. And then there was Ezra who just looked confused sitting on the couch.

* * *

Aria saw the Parthas out before going to the dining room to put all of the dishes away. Ezra followed her in to help her. She didn't really want any help, but she didn't want to be rude and tell him to go away either.

The two worked quietly only talking when necessary to clear the table. It was awkward having Ezra there. She knew her parents didn't know about the relationship they had in Iceland or he would not have been invited. He probably wouldn't even have a teaching job at all if they knew.

"Why did you come to Rosewood?" Aria asked hoping Jason wouldn't hear. The dining room wasn't very far from the living room where Jason was still seated, "Did you come because you knew I would be coming back here eventually?"

"I guess that was part of the reason," Ezra said, "But your dad said there were teaching positions around here that would be good for me. It was not my intention to come back here and start up our relationship again. But if that does happen it wouldn't be a bad thing," Ezra told her.

"I'm not interested in a relationship with you anymore, Ezra," Aria told him, "And if my parents even found out about what happened in Iceland they will ruin your career," she said, "I'm not even joking."

"I won't say anything," Ezra said, "It looks like you've got your eye on someone else anyway," he nodded his head toward the other room where Jason was.

"Jason and I are just friends," Aria told him, "We've been friends for years. Plus, he sort of works for the school, so it would be illegal," she said.

"It doesn't matter," Ezra said, "I'm not going to bother you unless you want me to," he told her as they finished putting everything away, "And I should probably go," he said.

"Oh, okay," Aria said, "I'll walk you out," Aria walked Ezra to the door, passing Jason in the living room. He was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Well, it was good to see you again, Aria," Ezra said hugging her.

"Yeah, you too," she said hugging him back. They let go of each other and Ezra walked out the door. Aria closed the door behind him and walked back into the living room, "Would you like more coffee?" Aria asked.

"Sure," Jason said. Aria picked up the coffee pot and started to pour coffee in Jason's cup.

"Mike promised me he wouldn't do this anymore," she said shakily.

"He probably meant it when he said it," Jason told her, "Give me that. Sit down," he took the coffee pot from her. Aria sat down on the chair across from Jason, "Take a breath," he told her, and she did before she started talking.

"He must be so angry at me," she said looking at the ceiling.

"Why would Mike be angry at you?" Jason asked.

"I don't know," Aria said, "Because even though I didn't come home with them I still got more attention from our parents. Everything that happened with our parents to begin with. Maybe if I had come home earlier he would have gotten more attention from our parents," Aria shrugged.

"No, no, no. Trust me," Jason said, "You are not the reason Mike is doing this," he told her.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Because I know a lot about misplaced guilt," Jason told her, "Look, the amount of trouble Mike is in depends on how many times he's done this. Do you have any idea how many places he's broken into?" Jason asked. She didn't.

Aria had no idea how many places her brother had broken into. She knew he attempted to break into Jason's place and now wherever this place was. She knew there had been a few other break ins in the area, she wondered if they were all Mike's doing.

"No, and it's not like he'll tell me," Aria said, "I don't even want to ask, "Aria's phone went off and she checked to see what it was. After last night's strange text she had been afraid to pick up her phone, "It's my parent's. They'll be here in a few minutes," she told Jason.

"I should probably head out then," Jason said.

"Probably," Aria said.

"Text me later and let me know what's going on," Jason told her. It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah, I will," she told him.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE:DINNER-Re-posted**


	6. SLEEPOVER

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Later, after her parents got home with Mike, Aria went over to Spencer's house. Emily had called all of them together, so they could talk and tell Aria something. She wasn't sure what she meant, but apparently it was important. Aria got to Spencer's house at 8:30pm. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer were waiting for her in Spencer's bedroom. It was almost like old times when they would all get together for sleepovers, minus Alison.

Aria tossed her overnight bag on the floor and sat on the bed beside Emily.

"Okay, now what's going on?" Aria asked, "Emily said you had something to tell me."

"There is actually a lot to tell you," Spencer said, "You have been gone for two years and we didn't want to stress you out. We figured that was the whole reason you stated away."

"Pretty much," Aria said, "But I'm here now, so I should probably know what's going on."

Aria's friends proceeded to tell her what had happened since they found Alison's funeral. About the texts from 'A'. They told her about Ian and the bell tower. They told her everything she had missed since she left Rosewood. She was baffled. She knew they had found Alison's remains, which is why she didn't come back with her family, but she had no idea about the texts. How could she? She wasn't exactly talking to her friends at that point. And then her year in Germany was them trying to find whoever killed Alison. And he tried to kill Spencer. Whoever this 'A' person is pushed Ian off the bell tower in the church and they thought he was dead, but he wasn't. Later, he confessed, in a letter, to killing Ali and killed himself. But they don't think he did, because the letter was made up of 'A' texts. Aria's head was spinning at that point. Now, they were thinking that Jason had something to do with it and that he killed his sister, which Aria did not believe for one second. He and Alison may not have gotten along well most of the time, but he wouldn't kill her.

"I got a text from 'A' a couple days ago," Aria said, "My parents weren't home, and I was with Jason," she told them.

"What did it say?" Spencer asked ignoring the 'Jason' part of what Aria had said. Aria took her phone from her pocket to read the text.

"It would still be illegal, you know," Aria read the text out loud, so all three girls could hear.

"What does that even mean?" Hanna asked.

"Does that mean anything to you?" Emily asked, "Most of the texts we get are personal. Things only we would know."

"Yeah," Aria said, "It's something only Alison would have known," she told them, "A conversation we had the night she went missing."

"This is the only one you've gotten so far?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah," Aria said, "You mean I'm gonna get more?" she asked.

"Being in Rosewood and being a former friend of Alison, yes, you will be getting more texts," Emily told her, "Sorry."

"Damn. Maybe I should have stayed in Germany then," Aria said. Her friends didn't disagree.

* * *

"Do we really have to watch this?" Hanna asked, "I hate horror movies," she was stuck in the middle of all four girls. Aria was beside her with Emily and Spencer on the ends. Emily had picked out the movie, of course. She loved horror films. Spencer didn't mind either way and like Hanna, Aria was not a fan. But they were already halfway through and she wanted to know the ending, although it was very predictable what was going to happen.

"Come on, Han, let's go get something to eat. Let these two finish this movie," Spencer said. Hanna didn't hesitate to get out of the bed and follow Spencer out of the room. Aria and Spencer now had more room on the bed, which Aria was happy about.

"This movie is really stupid," Aria said to Emily.

"I know, but I like to scare Hanna sometimes. It's fun," she said, "It's only a movie."

"Let's just turn it off and go with them," Aria said, and Emily agreed. They walked downstairs to find Hanna and Spencer in the kitchen eating ice cream in the living room. They were watching some game show on TV. Aria couldn't help but laugh.

"You guys are big babies," Emily said getting herself a bowl of ice cream. Aria didn't want any, so she went and sat on the couch beside Hanna. Emily sat on the chair adjacent to the couch.

While they were watching TV and eating their ice cream the doorbell rang. The other three girls looked at Aria.

"Could you get that?" Spencer asked, "We're eating," she said. Aria rolled her eyes and stood up to answer the door.

"Spence, did you order a pizza?" Aria asked after a few seconds.

"No, but I'll take one if it's free," she said. Aria took the pizza from the delivery guy and walked to the kitchen counter. Hanna, Spencer, and Emily followed her. She opened the box and the letter 'A' was spelled out in different pizza toppings, "On second thought, I'm not really that hungry," she said.

"Yeah, me neither," Hanna said. Emily and Aria agreed as well. Aria picked up the receipt which had fallen to the floor and noticed it didn't have the usual prices on it, but a note of sorts.

_Welcome home Aria. -A_

Aria looked at the pizza again and after the giant 'A' the rest of her name was spelled out in tiny, chopped up, vegetables. If one wasn't staring at the giant 'A' they would have noticed the smaller 'RIA' beside it.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure this pizza was for me," Aria told her friends who had gone back to watching TV, "It says my name on here. You can barely see it, but it's there," Spencer walked over and looked at the pizza again seeing what Aria was talking about.

"How would 'A' even know you're here?" Hanna asked, "Did you tell anyone you were coming over?"

"Just my parents and Emily," Aria told her, "But you said whoever this person is seems to be everywhere, so this really isn't surprising, is it?" she asked.

"No, it's not," Spencer said, "But now you know, they aren't messing around. This is just a pizza, Aria, which we 100% should not eat no matter how amazing it looks. How far do you think they are willing to go if you make them mad somehow? You have only been back for two days."

"I'll be fine," Aria said, "You guys have been fine so far. We will protect each other and find out who this person is and make them rot in hell."

"But you're new around here. They're probably tired of us and you're a new plaything," Hanna said.

"I can take it," Aria said.

"You say that now," Emily said, "But when 'A' gets bored they get creative and makes you think you're going crazy and eventually you kind of start to believe it."

"Well, we all know none of us are crazy…for the most part," Aria said, "We can't let this person take us down. And if it gets too bad we can get one-way tickets to Antarctica."

"'A' would probably follow us, but nice try," Spencer said.

"Why didn't they bother me in Germany, then?" Aria asked, "Maybe they don't like Europe. We can go there," she said.

"Let's just see how everything plays out before we go leaving the country," Emily says.

"I vote for that," Hanna agreed.

"I'll go with that as well," Aria said, "Just planning ahead. I thought Spencer would be all for planning ahead."

"You can't plan ahead when someone is already ahead of you," Spencer said.

"True," Aria replied.

"Can we finish 'Wheel of Fortune' please. It's almost over and I would like to see who wins. It's a very close game," Emily interrupted.

"Fine," Hanna said, "But then I'm going to sleep. We have to meet Mrs. DiLaurentis for lunch tomorrow and I'm not exactly looking forward to it. Lucky Aria doesn't have to go."

"Mrs. D didn't know she was back, so she doesn't have to," Spencer said, "I'm sure she would have if she knew. I can e-mail her if-"

"I'll pass," Aria said quickly interrupting Spencer, "But you can tell me how it goes, "I've never really been a fan of the fashion show anyway. We only did it because Ali pretty much forced us, "Plus, I think I have plans with my mother tomorrow," Aria lied.

"Okay, well, we'll let you know how it goes," Spencer said.

"Alright, it's time for me to go to bed. I don't think I've slept since I got back," Aria said.

"Okay, goodnight," Spencer said. Hanna and Emily said the same and Aria went up to Spencer's room to go to bed for the night.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR:SLEEPOVER-Re-posted**


	7. PHOTOGRAPHS

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"So, how did lunch go?" Aria asked when Spencer called her the next day.

"It was okay," Spencer said, "Mrs. DiLaurentis gave us all dresses to wear for a memorial she wants to do at the very end of the show tomorrow night. We have one for you too," Spencer told her, "She didn't know you were back or you would have been invited, she told us."

"Exciting," Aria said sarcastically, "What kind of memorial does she want to do?" she asked.

"Just like a photo slideshow," Spencer said, "With the four of us on the catwalk because 'that's what Ali would want'."

"And who is putting this all together?" Aria asked.

"Well, I was thinking you could," Spencer said, "Since you didn't have to sit through that lunch you could just go through some photos and put a slideshow together with some nice music. Super easy."

"Don't you think Mrs. D would want to approve the photos?" Aria asked.

"Well, apparently you're all buddy buddy with Jason. Why don't you just run them by him?" Spencer said.

"We're friends, Spencer," Aria said, "It's not a big deal. And I wasn't here for it, but wasn't Toby an issue for a while? Why does Jason have to be?"

"Because he's creepy. He bought that house and lives there all by himself and doesn't ever talk to anyone," Spencer said.

"Maybe because people are awful to him and don't ever bother getting to know him before deciding whether they _should_ get to know him," Aria said, "But, yeah, I'll run some photos by him."

"Thank you," Spencer said not acknowledging any other part of what Aria had said, "I'll drop this dress by your house later."

"Alright, talk to you later," Aria said. When Aria hung up with Spencer she texted Jason.

**ARIA:** _Hey, are you busy?_

**JASON:** _No. Why?_

**ARIA:** _I just need some help with something if you don't mind._

**JASON:** _What's up?_

**ARIA:** _I have to do a slideshow/memorial thing for the fashion show for Ali and I wanted help picking out photos._

**ARIA:** _You really don't have to I was just wondering._

**JASON:** _I'll do it._

**ARIA:** _Thank you! Can I come over there? My parents have people over._

**JASON:** _No problem._

**ARIA:** _Okay. I'll be there soon._

**JASON:** _See you soon then._

* * *

Aria got to Jason's house 30 minutes later. Instead of driving she there. It was too late to turn back by then. But she had her bag with her laptop and a book with some photos of Alison and the rest of the girls for her and Jason to go through.

She rang the doorbell and not long after Jason answered the door.

"Hey," she greeted with a smile on her face.

"Hey back," he said letting her into the house, "You cold?" he asked.

"No, why?" she replied.

"You're wearing a giant hoodie and sweatpants," Jason pointed out, "And did you walk all the way here?"

"Yeah," she told him, "And these clothes are comfortable."

"They swallow you. That thing goes down to your knees almost," he laughed.

"Where do you want to do this?" Aria asked glaring at him.

"Uh, the kitchen I guess," he said and led her over to the island in the kitchen where three chairs were lined up. The last time Aria was in this kitchen was the night Alison went missing. She was standing in this spot with Jason and his friends waiting for Ali to show up. She could also recall one time before everything with Alison happened that she was in the DiLaurentis house. They were usually at Spencer's or Emily's nobody wanted to be around Jason or his friends, but Aria remembered every time she was there.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_**(two months before Alison's disappearance)**_

_Aria was the only one awake at 3:00am. She was a self-proclaimed insomniac. She always had a hard time falling asleep and when she finally did fall asleep it was in the early morning hours. Alison and Emily were in Alison's bed while Hanna and Aria slept on the floor in sleeping bags. Hanna was out cold, and it seemed like Emily and Alison were as well, so Aria got up and went downstairs to get some water. When she got downstairs she saw Jason was passed out on the couch in the living room. His shoes were still on and his hair was a mess. Aria took the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it on top of him hoping not to wake him. He didn't move. _

_She made her way to the kitchen and turned on the light. She walked over to the cupboard where she knew the cups were stored and opened it. The only glass in that cabinet was on the second shelf, which was too high for her to reach without help. But she had no help, so she was going to have to help herself. Aria stood on the tip of her toes and reached for the glass. She nearly had it when she slipped. She lost her balance and landed on her knee on the tile floor of kitchen while the glass fell to the marble countertop, shattering. _

"_Shit," Aria exclaimed trying to be quiet and not wake anyone in the house. She put her hands on the countertop to pull herself up and cried out in pain and fell back to the floor. Hundreds of tiny shards of glass embedded themselves into her hands._

"_What the hell is going on in here?" a sleepy Jason asked looking around the room. At first, he didn't see anything, but then he noticed Aria on the floor and blood dripping from her hands._

"_I broke a cup," she said gesturing to the broken cup on the counter, "I didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry," she apologized._

"_Don't worry about the damn cup, Aria. You're bleeding," Jason said. He walked over, and he could hear glass crunching under his shoes. The glass spread far, "This can be taken care of later. How bad are your hands?" he asked._

"_Oh, just a few hundred glass shards. No big deal," Aria said, "And I bumped my knee. But I'm okay," Jason only shook his head in disbelief. _

"_Grab on, I'm gonna carry you to the bathroom so we can get all that glass out and clean it up," Jason said, "I'll take care of the mess out there. How did that even happen?" he asked._

"_I'm short," Aria shrugged. _

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"Do you remember that time I broke a cup in here and blamed it on my shortness?" Aria asked him.

"Yeah," he laughed, "It took like two hours to get most of the glass out of your hands with my mother's tweezers."

"That hurt like a bitch," Aria said as she logged into her computer.

"Well, maybe ask for help next time," Jason said.

"Nobody else was awake," Aria reminded him, "Now shush. We have pictures to look at."

Jason didn't seem to care much on which ones Aria put in the memorial. He would ask where a certain photo was taken and when. Sometimes he would have to ask who some people were; friends of Ali's who Jason didn't know. They were also friends that Aria didn't know.

He did comment a lot on Aria's pink hair and how it was one of the only things he remembered from that summer.

"Did my mother ask you to do this?" Jason asked after a while.

"No, yes, not really," Aria said, "She told the other girls that she wanted to do a memorial thing and Spencer volunteered me to get photos together. Then I asked you. So, no she did not ask me. Spencer did."

"Alright," Jason said, "We'll go with that."

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE:PHOTOGRAPHS-Re-posted**


	8. FASHION

**CHAPTER SIX**

The next day Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were at the venue were at the venue where the fashion show was to be held. They had to do a rehearsal before the show later that night. Mona, being her usual self, was sitting on the side of the catwalk bossing everyone around. Spencer sat beside her looking like she wanted to kill the smaller girl. Aria couldn't help but chuckle at Spencer getting a small dose of her own medicine. Usually she was the one bossing people around, but because she was not around for most of the student committee lately she was not able to be voted for the committee chair and basically had to do whatever Mona wanted her to do. Spencer said something to Mona before walking away, which made her laugh and Spencer glared at her.

"Do any of you guys have an extra ticket for tonight?" Hanna asked Aria and Emily.

"Did you change your mind about Caleb?" Aria asked. Aria had just learned about Hanna's 'friend' Caleb when they were folding the programs that were no longer being used a couple a nights ago.

"It's for my dad," she said.

"He's still in town?" Emily asked.

"Yep. And he's in no rush to get back to Isabel," Hanna said in a sour tone.

"What does that even mean?" Aria asked, "There is no way your mom and dad are getting back together."

"Aria Montgomery!" Mona shouted, "Less talking, more walking," she said. Aria walked over to the catwalk and started walking. Mona stopped her less than halfway down, "Um, are your legs always that short?" she asked.

"Um, yes," Aria said, "And I believe yours's are too. We're the same height, Mona," Aria reminded her. Mona had nothing to say after that and let Aria continue walking.

"Mona made fun of my height," Aria told her friends later that afternoon while they sat at the Apple Rose Grille for dinner before the fashion show, "She said I have short legs."

"But she is shorter than you are," Spencer said.

"I just told her we were the same height and walked off," Aria said.

"Mona is five feet of insidious snark with a side ponytail and I just—I just want to grab it, and I want to yank it really, really hard," Spencer said.

"Spencer, she did step up when you dealt with some pretty big things that were way out of your control," Toby, who had gone to lunch with the girls said. He had gotten roped into working the fashion show behind the scenes with setting up and whatnot. He deserved a nice lunch, "But, look, maybe we should enjoy the fact that those pretty big things are over, and we can take a breath," he said.

"Yeah, you're right," she said.

* * *

Later that night the girls were backstage getting ready for the show. They each had a rack of clothes with their names on it and a station for them to get ready at.

"Did you figure out what's going on with your dad yet?" Aria asked Hanna as she put lipstick on. Emily was sitting between the two.

"It's not even worth the recap," Hanna told her, "Where is your dress?" Hanna asked Emily."

Emily saw Samara in the reflection of her mirror and smiled, "Being delivered as we speak," she told Hanna. Emily talked with Samara while Hanna and Aria watched them.

"Did they seem a little touchy feely to you?" Emily asked.

"A little," Aria said

"Wait, how come I have no date and you have a date who brought a date?" Hanna asked.

"You have a date," Aria said, "You just didn't ask him to come," Aria said.

"And how come you don't have a date?" Hanna asked Aria.

"My mom is my date," Aria said, "I don't have anyone else who would have been my date. I've been home less than a week, Hanna."

"I don't like how you have an answer for everything," Hanna said. Aria only shrugged.

Aria was still doing her makeup done when Spencer walked backstage.

"Aria, do you have the slideshow disc?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, yeah," Aria reached into her bag to get it, "I think it should be okay. I checked it before we came this morning. I don't think it's too awful," she said.

"I'm sure it's fine," Spencer said, "I just have to give it to Noel, so he can set it up later. I'm going to kill Mona later."

"Please don't," Hanna said, "You've spent so much time already trying to stay out of jail. We don't need you to give the cops a real reason to put you in jail," Emily and Aria agreed.

"Fine," Spencer said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get ready. We'll be starting soon."

A few minutes later Mrs. DiLaurentis and Jason walked backstage. He looked kind of angry. Aria didn't know if he was angry at her or if he just didn't want to be there or what was going on, but the look on his face was not a happy one. Aria wanted to say something, but he had to join his mother at the runway as they introduced her.

* * *

The whole fashion show went perfectly. They had no issues with wardrobe changes or who was supposed to be walking with who. They were all happy about that because now it was time for the four girls to change into the dressed Mrs. DiLaurentis picked out for them and do the tribute walk for Alison. It would be ironic if they messed that part up.

Aria had only seen the dress she was given the day before. It was luck on her part that her mother was friends with someone who was able to alter on very short notice or she would not have been able to fit into it. She liked the dress. It wasn't something she would have chosen, but it was pretty, and she would wear it for her deceased friend.

A voice came over the PA system and started speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Rosewood High Student Committee would like to take a moment to pay tribute to one of their own, Alison DiLaurentis."

Soft music started, and Hanna and Aria walked out. They started slowly walking hand in hand down the runway as the slideshow Aria put together started playing behind them. A few seconds after Aria and Hanna started down the runway Spencer and Emily started walking. The four girls just stood facing forward at the end of the runway while the slideshow played. Aria was only feet away from Jason. She wanted to look down at him but couldn't make herself do it. And Mona would kill her if she didn't do what they had rehearsed.

Suddenly loud rock music started playing and the lights in the room dimmed to a red color. All four girls turned around to look at a photo of a smiling Alison. Her face on fire and loud screaming coming from the speakers.

"Wake up, everybody! Because the bitch is back!" then loud rock mused played throughout the room.

Spencer jumped off the stage to find where the music was coming from and to turn off the slideshow. Hanna and Emily walked off stage while Aria was frozen where she had been standing. She had no idea what to do. She looked down at Jason and Mrs. DiLaurentis. Once the music and slideshow were turned off Mrs. DiLaurentis stood up and walked out. Jason looked back at Aria for just a second before following his mother. Aria stayed planted where she was and just looked around the red tinted room.

After the shock wore off Aria went backstage. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were the only three back there. The other girls had left after the whole fiasco. Aria would have as well if she wasn't a part of it. She saw that the other girls had changed out of their tribute dresses and into something more comfortable. She put on a pair of black distressed jeans, a grey t-shirt with the word 'weird' across the chest, and a pair of black sneakers. Her hair was down, but still styled from the fashion show and heavy makeup.

Spencer walked off to call Mrs. DiLaurentis. The other three girls just stood in a circle not talking at all.

"Did you speak to her?" Aria asked when Spencer came back.

"No, Jason picked up her cell phone, said she was too upset to talk," Spencer said.

"Just when we were in the spotlight, doing something decent," Emily said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"'A' makes the spotlight extra harsh," Hana said. Caleb walked in and Aria nodded toward him. Hanna walked over to him to talk. He had shown up to see her, anyway. She walked back to her friends a few seconds later and Caleb walked outside.

"Maybe we should just send Mrs. DiLaurentis a note or something?" Aria suggested.

"I don't think there is a section for 'I'm sorry you got traumatized' cards," Spencer said.

"Maybe flowers," Emily said. Feedback from a microphone or something startled the girls and they turned in the direction the noise came from.

On the screen that had been playing Alison's tribute slideshow were large words.

**MY DRESSES**

**MY GAME**

**MY RULES**

**-A**

"Can we get out of here," Emily asked picking her bags up from the floor.

"I'm right behind you," Spencer said, and Hanna followed them.

"I just gotta grab my stuff," Aria said regretting the fact that she hadn't packed it up earlier.

Aria ran backstage and started packing up her hair and makeup supplies. While doing so someone walked up behind her, startling her. Turning around she saw Noel with the tribute disc in his hand.

"Did you want this back?" he asked, "I'd hate to leave something lying around that could get you and your friends in trouble," he said.

"I assumed that was yours," Aria said hoping she sounded confident because she didn't feel it. She felt scared knowing that they were the only two people left in the building. That was until she felt a familiar presence walk up and stand beside her.

"What's that?" Jason asked gesturing to the disc in Noel's hand.

"The unplanned finale," Aria said without looking at him. She could feel him looking at her though.

"Hand it over," Jason said taking a step towards Noel. Noel handed Jason the disc without hesitation and Jason snapped it in half. Jason and Aria watched Noel walk away. Once he was gone Jason turned to Aria, "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know," Aria said grabbing her bag and walking back out to where all of her garment bags were on one of the tables in the main room.

"That's not a very decisive answer," Jason said.

"Jase, we had nothing to do with that," Aria told him.

"I never said you did," he replied.

"I know, but you know that I made that slideshow and then it ended up like that…" Aria sighed heavily, "I watched that thing a million times to make sure it was perfect and that was defiantly not the ending I made," she told him.

"You don't have to tell me that, Aria. I believe you," Jason told her, "I don't think any of you had anything to do with that. You all looked too shocked and pretty traumatized."

"I have it on my computer. I think I should send the real version to your mom so the one she saw tonight isn't the one she has to remember," Aria said.

"I think she would like that," Jason said.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure your mom doesn't want this back," Aria said referring to the dress she had worn during the failed tribute, "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

"Why did you come back? Why would you want to live in that big house all by yourself?" Aria asked.

"Wanted to try and put the pieces together," Jason said, "I was looking for something."

"Did you find it?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. But I need to find out how to be happy, and…I'd like to do that here," Jason said. Aria didn't know what to say to that, "Um…can I drop you somewhere?" he asked.

"Yeah," Aria said, "Yeah, I could use a ride home," she told him.

Jason grabbed Aria's garment bags while she grabbed her purse and she followed him out of the venue to his car. What went unnoticed by everyone was the giant letter 'A' arranged by candles on a table in the middle of the room.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: FASHION-Re-Posted**


	9. SHED

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Jason didn't get home until after 10:00pm. After dropping Aria off he didn't go straight home. He drove to a hardware store out of town to buy photo developing liquid. He had run out and needed to pick some more up. He had rolls upon rolls of film he had found that he wanted to develop. He had converted the woodshed in his backyard into a darkroom, so he could do so. He wasn't sure who all of the film belonged to, but he knew some of it was his and some was Alison's. A lot was his mother's as well. The first five rolls were all of Alison as a child. Jason had made a few appearances in those photos, but it was like their parents didn't want anyone to know that he existed.

He drove back to Rosewood and went to the shed. He took down the photos that were dried and hung up the newly developed ones. Even he was a little creeped out by the photos he had just hung up, but he would be lying if he said they weren't beautiful. Just creepy. He thought about starting another roll, but it was late, and he was getting tired.

Jason went inside and changed out of the suit he had been wearing for most of the night. He hated dressing up, but he did it for his mother. Most of the things he did were for her. He didn't have anyone else to do anything for. Once he had changed he climbed into bed and plugged his phone into it's charger on his bedside table.

He had been in the same room for as long as he could remember. He changed it a lot over the years, but it was always his room; even now as an adult. He could have chosen any other room in the house, but he stuck with his room. He remembered years ago when it would always smell like weed and air freshener. Occasionally beer. He didn't usually drink in his bedroom, but he did smoke and then try to cover it with air freshener, like his parents didn't know. Everyone knew.

Alison's room was just down the hall and she had her friends over quite a bit. He had to blast his music just, so he didn't have to hear them talking about whichever boys they liked or giggling over random shit. Alison would often bang on his door and shout at him to turn his music down, but he never did. He would only turn it down to a reasonable decibel when his parents were home and he knew he would get in trouble if it was too loud.

There were other reasons Jason liked this room. Most of them had to do with a girl with pink hair. Aria was so much different than Alison's other friends. She seemed much more mature than they were. Without Alison's knowledge, Aria and Jason spent a lot of time together. When Ali and the other girls were sleeping, and Aria was not able to she would usually go to Jason's room. They would never do anything inappropriate, she was way too young for him and they both new that, but she liked to spend time with him and he liked to spend time with her. It was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't just like him or part of that stupid made up club that he didn't even want to be a part of. He never did any filming, he was just there to watch, even if he didn't want to be. It was his young sister and her friends. It was sick.

_**FLASHBACK **_

"_These are really good," Aria said looking at the photos on Jason's camera. There were action shots of people playing basketball at the park and some of just scenery around Rosewood, "You could start a business," Aria said._

"_Now, I'm not that good," Jason said, "I had to take an elective for school and photography seemed like fun."_

"_You're good at it," Aria said and focused the camera on Jason while he was looking at his phone. She snapped a quick photo hoping he wouldn't notice until he went through his camera later. He looked pensive and brooding from the profile shot she had taken. It wasn't far off his usual expression, but it didn't seem like he was looking at his phone. _

"_Hey!" Jason exclaimed trying to take the camera from her, "You shouldn't be taking pictures of people without permission," he said, "It's rude."_

"_But you look nice," Aria said showing him the photo._

"_I look like I'm contemplating killing someone," Jason said._

"_Probably me," Aria said, "Because I took that picture."_

"_Never you," Jason said taking the camera from her. She sat down beside him with her legs stretched out in front of her, "I like your hair too much."_

"_And here I thought we were friends," Aria said._

"_We were until you did that to me," Jason said._

"_Take my picture then," Aria said, "Make it even and we can be friends again."_

"_That's not gonna work," Jason told her, "You didn't warn me. I have to do it when you're not expecting it."_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

A few days after the fashion show Aria went to school after having a very intense dream about Jason. Aria rarely remembered dreams she had, but this one was so vivid she thought it was real life and when she woke up she was kind of disappointed. But at the same time, she wasn't. She didn't want to remember only part of an experience like that, which is what she remembered. She only remembered part of making out naked in bed with Jason in her dream last night. Or this morning. Whenever it was. She didn't care. It happened, and she needed to get her mind off of it. That was a hard feat when the man she was thinking about was walking the halls of the school and one of her best friends was grilling her about him.

"Why is he here?" Emily asked as Jason walked by. He waved at her with a smile on his face. She waved back, "And why are you blushing?"

"He counsels kids on substance abuse," Aria said.

"That's nice, but it's only half of what I asked. Why are you blushing?" Emily asked.

"Because I had a dream about him last night, okay. Now stop asking question," Aria said and walked away.

"What kind of a dream?" Emily said quickly catching up to her.

"We were in bed making out, naked and then my alarm clock went off and I woke up," Aria told her.

"How could you?" Emily asked.

"I can't help what my brain does when I'm sleeping, Em," Aria said.

"Did you like it?" Emily asked.

"Did who like what?" Hanna asked joining the two of them.

"Aria had a sex dream about Jason," Emily said.

"It wasn't a sex dream. We were kissing," Aria defended.

"Naked," Emily said.

"ARIA!" Hanna exclaimed making everyone in the courtyard look their way. The three girls started walking again before they continued their conversation, "You had a sex dream about Jason?"

"He could be a killer!" Emily whisper-yelled.

"Jason is no more dangerous than you all thought Toby was a while back," Aria reminded her.

"Kinda true," Hanna said.

"Toby was never linked to a weapon that could have dented Ali's skull," Emily said.

"Also, true," Hanna said.

"'Could have' doesn't mean he did," Aria said.

"True again," Hanna said, "So far Aria is winning this argument, Em," Hanna said.

"Look, I can see why you're attracted to him. He's mysterious and wounded and we all know you love to fix things, but you're playing with fire," Emily said.

"You forgot to add that he's really hot," Hanna said, "I mean for a maybe murderer."

"He's not a maybe murderer!" Aria whisper-yelled this time, "He's a good person and you guys are being too judgy and if you would get to know him you would see what I see and not what everyone else is making you see."

"'Everyone else' meaning Spencer?" Hanna asked.

"Spencer and the rest of this town," Aria said, "I love Spencer, but she jumps to conclusions way too quickly and she is so quick to judge it's insane. So, I'm not just going to stop hanging out with him because you three are afraid of him."

The next day Aria was at Spencer's. They were working on a history project and decided to work at Spencer's house. There was way too much going on at the Montgomery home. With her parents fighting all the time and trying to figure out what was going on with Mike it was always so loud, and Aria just didn't want to be there.

"Food break?" Spencer asked after about an hour of working.

"Definitely," Aria was quick to agree, and the two girls went down to the kitchen to find something to eat.

"So, do you know why Jason is so protective of his woodshed?" Spencer asked Aria while they waited for their food to cook.

"No, why?" Aria asked.

"Because yesterday on my way home from school I saw him and some guy clearing trees and brush in the yard, when the guy went over to the woodshed Jason rushed over there like his head was on fire and yelled at the guy not to never open it," Spencer told her.

"I don't know anything about a woodshed," Aria said, "The only time I've been over there is to look at the photos for the slideshow and I wasn't even there that long. And it's not like he said 'Hey, let's take a trip out to my woodshed," Aria said sarcastically.

"I think we should go see what's in there," Spencer said, "He was so protective of whatever is in there I think it's worth finding out."

"Why?" Aria asked, "Whatever is in there is his. He can do what he wants with it," she said.

"What if there are dead bodies in there?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, get a grip, Spence," Aria said, "He's not a killer. But if there are dead bodies in there it's his issue and we shouldn't get involved," she said.

"But we're Team Sparia," Spencer said with a slight pout, "Can't we just go look? I know he just left to take his mom back to the airport which is a good hour and half away, so he should be gone for a while," Spencer told her, "Please? I just want to see what's in there. We won't take anything. We won't even touch anything. I promise."

"He will get so mad at me if he finds out I went in there without asking him," Aria said, "I think I'm probably the only person he trusts even a little bit and I'll be breaking that trust if I do this."

Spencer was about to say something when Aria's phone went off.

**UNKNOWN:** _Team Sparia better go check out Jason's shed, or these will be sent to mommy and daddy. -A_

Attached to the text was a photo of Aria and Ezra in Iceland. How would 'A' even have these? How would they get them at all? Did they follow her there? She didn't even have photos of them on her phone. Maybe Ezra did, and they got into his phone? But this photo was taken from a distance and both Ezra and Aria were clearly visible.

Aria read the text out loud and Spencer didn't know whether to be happy or scared. She very much wanted to look in Jason's shed, but the fact that 'A' was using this as a threat to Aria scared her. Spencer didn't know who the other person in the picture was, but it was someone Aria didn't want her parents to know about, obviously. And now would be a bad time for them to find out. Especially, with everything going on with Mike.

"I guess we're going to check out Jason's woodshed," Aria said putting her phone in her pocket.

Spencer turned off the oven and they both put their shoes and jackets on to head over to Jason's. It was getting dark out. When they got over there they noticed that his car was still gone, thankfully. Spencer led Aria over to the woodshed and reached for the key Jason had above the door.

"I don't like the idea of breaking into Jason's shed," Aria said.

"It's not breaking in if you have a key," Spencer said, "Plus, I don't think you want to find out what is going to happen if you don't do what that text says," Spencer told her, "It will be really quick. Just trust me."

Spencer opened the door and the two girls walked inside. Aria closed the door behind them. It was pitch black inside the shed except for the flashlights they were carrying. Spencer bumped into something making a roll of film to fall to the floor. Aria picked it up and looked at it.

"What is that?" Spencer asked.

"It's film," Aria told her and set it on the closest surface.

"Let's keep going," Spencer said, and they walked further into the room.

"What is this place?" Aria asked seeing photos hanging everywhere. Spencer turned on the red tinted light, so they could actually see what they were looking at.

Looking on the floor she saw a photo of someone's lips.

"It's Jason's darkroom," she said and continued looking around the room. Everything needed for developing photos was set up neatly around the room. All around the room were photos hanging up, drying.

"Whose face is this?" Aria asked already knowing the answer but wanting confirmation from Spencer.

There were lips and closed eyes and even hands. Aria knew it was her, but she wanted Spencer to say it.

"Oh, my god, Aria. It's you. They're all you!" Spencer exclaimed, "That's why he's been being so nice to Mike. So, he can get closer to you," she said.

"Can we just get out of here?" Aria asked, and they started towards the door, "What is that?" Aria sked when she saw Spencer looking in a box near the door.

"Jason's camera equipment," She said, "Like, surveillance equipment."

"For his house?" Aria asked.

"For spying on people," Spencer said.

"What are you saying?" Aria asked, "You think—" she was cut off by the sound of a car door slamming.

"He's home!" Spencer shouted, "Forget it," she said, and they ran out of the shed Spencer dropping her flashlight on the way out.

When they got out she quickly locked the door and put the key back where she got it. They both ran and hid before Jason could see them as he got to his shed. They watched him go inside and close the door behind him before running back to Spencer's house.

"You said he would be gone for a while," Aria said when they got back to the Hastings' house.

"I guess he left earlier than I thought," Spencer said.

"Ya think?" Aria said, "I told you there wouldn't be any dead bodies in there," She told Spencer.

"But there were tons of photos of you sleeping," Spencer said, "You have to admit that's creepy, Aria."

"It is," she said, "But before anyone goes jumping to conclusions about anything I'm going to talk to him. I mean we did break in. He could call the police," she said.

"Aria! How are you not getting it yet?" Spencer asked, "He may have killed Alison and you act like he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Don't say anything about the photos to anyone until I talk to Jason about it," Aria said, "Not even Toby."

"Fine, but talk to him soon, or I will," Spencer told Aria.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN: SHED Re-Posted**


	10. BREAK INs

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

When Aria got home later that night Ella asked her to go out and pick up dinner. They didn't have much food to eat at home, so she had ordered food and asked Aria to pick it up. It wasn't a long walk to town, so Aria didn't drive. She just stopped to pick up their Chinese food and started her walk back home. As she was walking back home she heard a car approaching.

"Aria," She heard Jason's voice and turned to look at him, "Taking a study break?" he asked.

"Picking up dinner," she told him showing him the bags of food she was carrying. He pulled his car over to the side of the road and got out.

"Sounds like more fun than what I've been up to," he said, "I had to buy a padlock for my shed. Somebody broke in today," he told her. The guilt she had been feeling since She and Spencer broke in earlier that day started to weigh in on her. She had tried to push it to the back of her mind, but when he brought it up, it all came rushing forward.

Now would have been the perfect time to tell him. She could have told him that it was her and Spencer who broke into his shed, but something told her that right now was not a good idea.

"Really?" she asked trying to act surprised and hoping it was working.

"Yeah," Jason said.

"Well…it couldn't have been Mike. He…hasn't even left his room since Thursday," Aria said. She felt terrible even bringing her brother into it when she knew exactly what happened.

"I didn't go there," Jason said, "Listen I…I'm glad I bumped into you. I was hoping we could talk."

"Okay. What about?" she asked.

"The truth is I do care about your brother, but…I also care about you," Jason said, "And I wanted to tell you in the off chance that you might feel the same way."

Aria stood frozen as Jason leaned in to her pressing his lips against hers. Aria kissed him back but pulled back after only a few seconds.

"I can't do this," she said shaking her head.

"Why not?" Jason asked, confused. They had been spending more and more time together and he thought she was feeling the same way he was.

"I just have a lot going on right now," Aria said, "I'm sorry."

Jason watched as Aria quickly walked down the sidewalk as if she couldn't get away from him fast enough.

Later that night Jason was in bed watching TV when his phone went off. He picked it up from the bedside table and saw that he had a text message from Aria. Another text from an unknown number came right after that one. Jason opened Aria's first.

**ARIA:** _Hey. I really need to talk to you about something so can you call me?_

Jason really didn't know what to say. He did and didn't want to talk to her. He wanted to know what she had to say, but he was still upset about what had happened earlier. He wasn't mad at Aria, he was just kind of sad. He really thought that she felt the same way he did, but obviously she didn't, and he would have to get over that.

**JASON:** _Can we talk tomorrow?_

**ARIA:** _OK._

**JASON:** _Is something wrong?_

**ARIA:** _Kinda. But I guess it can wait._

**JASON:** _I'll call you in a few minutes._

**ARIA:** _Thank you._

Before Jason called Aria, he decided to check the other text that was sent to him.

**UNKNOWN:** _I like taking photos too. -A_

Attached to the text was a picture of Aria and Spencer in Jason's shed. They were both clueless. They had no idea that anyone else was in there with them taking their picture. They both looked terrified as they looked in different directions at the pictures hanging around. Jason didn't know if it was because of the contents of the photos or because they were afraid he would catch them breaking in. Maybe both. Aria was seeing pictures of herself sleeping. Probably thinking that Jason took the photos and probably drugged her or something.

Maybe that is why she was so freaked out when he kissed her earlier. Not because she had a lot going on, but because she was afraid of him. Is that what she wanted to talk to him about or was it something completely different? Did she want to talk about Mike or what had happened when he kissed her? He had no idea and he didn't plan on finding out tonight. He probably should have called, but he was upset, and he didn't want to take out any anger on Aria. He wanted to wait and calm down before he spoke to her.

It became harder to keep from talking to her when she started texting and asking if he was still going to call. And then she called him. Eventually she stopped, and Jason went to sleep. Though he knew he would probably see her at Rosewood High tomorrow. He was counseling some kids and she was there everyday being a student and all.

The next day at school Emily sat down across from Aria at lunch. Aria was completely spaced out until Emily started talking.

"I need to talk to you about Jason," Emily said.

"No, I need to talk to _you_ about Jason," Aria said, though she was confused as to why Emily would need to talk to her about Jason, "He kissed me. And I didn't exactly push him away, but I told him I couldn't."

"Couldn't what?" Emily asked.

"I don't know," Aria said, "I just said that I had a lot going on and 'I can't do this'," she said with air quotes, "He looked kinda sad. I felt bad."

"Well, Spencer told me about all the creepy photos Jason has of you in his darkroom/woodshed thing and we went back there," Emily said, "Everything was gone. All of the photos and his equipment."

"Spencer told you?" Aria asked Emily, "I told her not to tell anyone until I spoke to Jason," Aria said.

"Well, I needed to go back in there and I knew you wouldn't go with me, so I asked Emily," Spencer said plopping down beside Emily, "The whole place is empty."

"Yeah, because he knew someone broke in. He probably moved everything. He told me he went to get a padlock last night when I saw him," Aria said.

"You saw him last night?" Spencer asked.

"And kissed him," Emily added without thinking.

"You're kissing him now?"

"He kissed me!" Aria exclaimed, "And yes I saw him. I wanted to tell him what happened then, but standing in the middle of the road wasn't exactly the right time. I texted him later and he said he would call, but he never did. He must have fallen asleep or something. It was pretty late," Aria said, "I was going to talk to him today anyway. You couldn't have waited one day to tell anyone? Less than 24 hours?" she asked Spencer.

"Not when he has that many creepy pictures of you," she said.

"You still could have let me talk to him first," Aria said. She got up from the table and walked out of the room.

When she got into the hallway Aria saw Jason talking to a student she didn't recognize. He looked over at her and she marched over to him.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked just as the other kid walked away.

"Hey, yeah, look. I wanted to talk to you," he started, but Aria interrupted.

"Why do you have those pictures of me?" she asked with no hesitation, "How did you even take them? Did you like climb a ladder up to my window?"

"Hold up. Your friends are the ones who broke into my darkroom?" Jason asked knowing who it really was. He wanted to see if she would tell him the truth or not.

"Well technically it's not breaking in if you have a key," Aria said, "And Spencer and I 'broke in'," Aria told him. She didn't lie to him, "But so what? The point is, we found the photos. Photos you didn't want found."

"Man. I swear this town never changes," Jason said, "People would rather sneak behind your back than ask you a direct question."

"I'm asking you a direct question right now. Why did you take them, and when?" Aria asked stepping closer to him as students started clearing the halls to get to their classes. She knew she was going to be late for class, but she didn't care at this point.

"I didn't. Ali did," Jason said.

"Why would Ali take pictures of me sleeping?" Aria asked.

"Got me," Jason said, "I don't know what goes on at slumber parties," he said, "Look, I found rolls of film in the house and decided to develop them. That particular roll I found in her room."

"Okay, well why was all of the equipment missing when Spencer and Emily went back?" Aria asked.

"Oh, so it was broken into twice?" Jason asked sarcastically.

"Jason."

"That equipment is expensive, so I moved it all into the house until I could get a new lock," Jason told her, "And the prints were gone because I was having them framed. AS a gift. For you."

"Oh."

"So…anything else you want to accuse me of?" Jason asked.

"Jason, you have to admit, this all looks really bad," Aria said.

"Yeah, I can see that," Jason replied before walking away.

After school Aria was sitting at The Grille waiting for Jason. He asked her to meet him there and she was nervous because of everything that had happened. She had accused him of spying on her and taking picture of her in her sleep, which he didn't do. And she had told him that she was the one who broke into his shed. She wasn't sure if he was mad at her about that. He didn't seem upset earlier, but she had more to say then than he did.

Aria kept checking her phone for the time when she was startled by Jason. He was always so quiet when approaching people.

"Mind if I sit down?" he asked. When Aria didn't answer he said, "Oh, come one, you're not still scared of me, are you?"

"You can sit down," Aria said, "And I was never scared of you."

"Yes, you were," Jason said, "Spencer and Emily got into your head and you got scared. I don't know where Hanna sits in all of this," he said.

"She's too busy with her dad's wedding stuff to have her mind anywhere else," Aria said, "But I'm not afraid of you," she told him.

"Anyway, I've got the photos here if you want to see them," Jason told Aria.

"Yeah," Aria said. Jason laid all of the framed photos on the table in front of Aria and she looked at all of them, "These are beautiful," she said picking one of them up. It was a closeup of her own face sleeping.

"Yeah," Jason said, "I didn't know Ali was so artistic."

"I don't even remember her even taking pictures," Aria said, "Ali was always the one in front of the camera."

"Are you nervous?" Jason asked noticing Aria twisting and twirling a drink stirrer between her fingers.

"Oh…it's a bad habit," she said putting the stirrer to the side, "Look, I know this isn't an excuse, but Spencer just wanted to know what was in there so badly and my friends have been through a lot. Some of it I don't even know about. We shouldn't have gone in there and they shouldn't have gone back," Aria said.

"I think we're all looking for answers," Jason said.

"So, have you found anything else of hers?" Aria asked.

"No, just the box," Jason told her, "You can take a look at it if you want. It's back at the house," he said, "Or you can just wait for the next break-in from your circle of friends and relatives," Aria chuckled and smiled at him.

"I'll come look at it," she told him.

Jason and Aria packed up the photos and took them out to Jason's car. Aria walked to the Grille from school so she didn't have her car with her. She quickly texted her mom that she was with Jason and would be home later before getting into the car with him.

"The box is in the woodshed," Jason told her.

"I'll wait here for you," she told him.

"Alright," he said, "I'll be back in a sec."

Aria walked up to the front porch and sat on the steps while she waited. While she was waiting she saw Toby's truck stop in front of the house. Spencer climbed out of the passenger's side and walked up to her.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?" Aria asked.

"Aria, you shouldn't be here," Spencer said, "Jason is dangerous and you know it."

"No, I don't," Aria said, "He just went back to the woodshed to get something and then he's going to take me home. Relax."

"What could he possibly have that you would want?" Spencer asked.

"Something he found of Ali's," Aria said, "I would have shown you either way, but you had to come barging over here like I'm with Ted Bundy or something."

"Aria, just come with me. Text him and ask him to bring the box to school tomorrow," Spencer said.

"Oh, my god," Aria said, "I don't have to listen to this," she turned and walked in the same direction that Jason had. About halfway to the shed she bumped into Jason almost falling over. He wrapped his arm around her to keep her from falling.

"Everything okay?" he asked, "You look a little flustered," he said.

"Spencer," is all she said, "Can we go in through the back door?" she asked.

"No, we'll go this way," he said, "If she isn't gone I'll make her leave. It's not a big deal."

"Fine," Aria said. The two walked back around to the front of the house and Toby's truck was gone. Spencer was nowhere in sight.

"See. Everything's fine," he said, "Now, do you want to come inside for a bit or do you want me to take you home?" he asked.

"I can hang out for a bit. I just have to be home for dinner," Aria told him.

"Sounds good," Jason said leading Aria into the house.

**CHAPTER EIGHT- BREAK INS-RePosted**


End file.
